Method and apparatus for charging a battery using local power grid topology information

ABSTRACT

An apparatus (240) and method for charging a plurality of mobile energy storage and power consumption devices (202) may control determining a power charging schedule for charging a battery of at least one of the devices (202), in accordance with charger availability information, transactive energy information, the current location of the one device, mobile energy storage and power consumption device information and information indicating predetermined timing for providing a predetermined minimum charge level at the device, and transmitting a charging instruction signal for charging the battery of the at least one device using electric power supplied from a distribution power grid (10, 204) or an alternative power resource (218), according to the power charging schedule.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C. § 371of International Application No. PCT/US2018/031140 filed May 4, 2018,which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/501,285 filed May 4, 2017, the disclosures of which are herebyincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to electric battery chargingsystems, and more particularly, determining schedules for chargingelectric batteries included in respective mobile apparatuses, such aselectric vehicles (EV), using energy storage and power consumptionrelated information for the mobile apparatuses, charging availabilityinformation for charging apparatuses on local electric power grids eachsupplied electric power from a distribution power grid, and transactiveenergy information indicating availability and pricing of electric powerfor supply to the respective power grids.

BACKGROUND

With the expected increase in the number of EVs in the near future,electric power charging requirements likely will increase. As a result,the existing electric power grid infrastructure, which includes utilitypower grids, distribution power grids and electric power grids at aresidential or commercial level, may face challenges to satisfy theincreased charging requirements.

In the future, the likely trend is that many EVs, for example, fleets ofelectric buses or trucks, may require significant charginginfrastructure and corresponding power delivery capability. The EVs ofsuch EV fleets, when requiring charging at the same or about the sametime, in turn may present large loads to a local distribution systemoperator (DSO).

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art electrical power system 5. Electricalpower may be provided from Grid 10 via a local transformer 20 topowerline distribution wiring 30 which extends to an electrical meter70. For ease of reference and as used in the present disclosure, “Grid”is the electrical power network which is upstream of the electricalmeter at a low voltage transformer and may supply power to an electricpower grid which extends on the load side of the transformer, and“local” refers to any power equipment connected to the secondary windingof the transformer, i.e., load side. The Grid 10 may includesub-sections of different power capacities and types of control and/oravailability. The transformer 20 may reduce the voltage from a mediumvoltage to the standard low voltage wall outlet voltage of about 110Volts line-to-ground or 220 Volts line-to-line. The electrical meter 70may be “dumb”, i.e., a device that does not make any decisions thataffect charging or energy usage processes, which interconnects thewiring 30 to low voltage power distribution wiring 140. The system 5 mayinclude electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) 55, which also does notmake any decisions that affect charging or energy usage processes (i.e.,a “dumb” EVSE), connected to the wiring 140. The EVSE 55 may include apower interface 52 to supply power to an EV 50, and a communicationinterface 54 over which EV power charging related information isexchanged with the EV 50. The system 5 may include alternative powerresources such as a Distributed Energy Resource (DER) 110, an energystorage system 120 and a renewable energy resource (Renewable) 130. Theenergy storage system 120 may be embodied as a flywheel, molten salt,water tower, battery, pumped hydro or other energy storage system. TheRenewable 130 may include a consumptive energy resource such as awood-fired generator, a small nuclear generator, solar cells, solarpanel array, wind turbine, water turbine, biomass system, geothermalsystem, etc. The DER 110 may include any Renewable 130 or energy storagesystem 120, and also may include an EV that may have spare energy in itsbatteries that can be shared or an EV engine that can be used togenerate energy. The Grid 10 may be supplied electric power from autility generator on the Grid 10, or a DER, Renewable or energy storagesystem which is a part of the Grid 10 or a local electrical powersystem, such as the system 5. In addition, the DER 110 and the Renewable130 may contain a controller (not shown) that monitors electrical poweroutput and synchronizes the supply of electrical power to the Grid 10 inorder to supplement available energy on the Grid 10; directs energy ofthe DER 110 or the Renewable 130 to the energy storage system 120; andperforms other power distribution functions as appropriate, such as loadbalancing and maintenance processes.

FIG. 2 illustrates a prior art electric power system 5A which is similarto the system 5, and includes smart devices. For purposes of the presentdisclosure, a “smart” device is a device capable of making a decisionthat affects charging or energy usage processes. In the power system 5A,utility electrical power may be distributed from the Grid 10 via thelocal transformer 20 to local customer premise distribution wiring 30extending to smart meters 70A. The low voltage of the transformer isdistributed up to the current and voltage capabilities of thetransformer 20, the distribution wiring 30, and the load center of afacility (not shown) containing EVSEs and other power consumptiondevices (not shown). The facility may include a smart charger 55Aconfigured to control charging of an EV 50, such as electric bus, andcommunication of EV power charging related information. The system 5Amay further include controllers 100 and 102 of Renewables such as asolar panel array 80 and wind turbine 90, respectively, which mayprovide for communication of energy generation related information. Thesmart meter 70A may provide for exchange of energy generation and powerconsumption related information between the controllers 100, 102 and theGrid power distribution controller. Although energy generation and powerconsumption related information may be communicated among smart devicesof the system 5A and the Grid controller, the charging needs of multipleEVs buses which are associated with each other, such as by being part ofan EV bus fleet, and that may desire to use EV chargers of the system 5Afor charging, are not considered at the smart devices of the system 5Aor the Grid power distribution controller.

In addition, multiple electrical power systems similar to the system 5or 5A may include chargers for charging EV buses of an EV bus fleet,where each system is associated with an electric power grid extendingfrom a typical local step down transformer which is rated for less than500 KVA. In the event simultaneous charging is desired for the batteriesof multiple EV buses from the chargers wired to respectively selectedspecific local transformers, the power grids associated respectivelywith the selected local transformers may have insufficient capacity.

Accordingly, there exists a need for method, apparatus and system forcharging a battery of multiple mobile energy storage and powerconsumption apparatuses, such as EVs, using power from a powerdistribution grid, efficiently, cost effectively and within thecapabilities of one or more local electric power grids.

SUMMARY

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a method may provide forcharging a plurality of mobile energy storage and power consumptiondevices, wherein charging-related operations for each of the mobileenergy storage and power consumption devices and for a plurality ofcharging apparatuses are associated with one another, wherein thecharging apparatuses are on a plurality of microgrids or a singlemicrogrid, wherein the microgrids respectively extend from differentelectric power distribution nodes of a distribution power grid orpremises distribution network and are associated with respectivegeographic areas or areas of the premises distribution network, andwherein each of the microgrids or the single microgrid is configured tobe supplied with a predetermined maximum power from the distributionpower grid or the premises distribution network via the powerdistribution node corresponding thereto, the method comprising:controlling, by a processing device, at a power system control device,receiving, over a communication network, (i) mobile energy storage andpower consumption device information indicating current energy storagelevel, current energy usage rate, current location and energy storagecapacity respectively for the mobile energy storage and powerconsumption devices, (ii) charging availability information indicatingcurrent and expected charging operating status respectively for thecharging apparatuses, and (iii) power resource information indicatingavailability and pricing of electric power for supply to the microgridsor the single microgrid from the distribution power grid or the premisesdistribution network; determining, for at least one first mobile energystorage and power consumption device of the mobile energy storage andconsumption devices, based on the mobile energy storage and powerconsumption device information and information indicating predeterminedtiming for providing a predetermined minimum charge level at the atleast one first mobile energy storage and power consumption device, atleast one first power charging schedule for charging a battery of the atleast one first mobile energy storage and power consumption device, inaccordance with (i) the charging availability information, (ii)transactive energy information indicating pricing for supplying electricpower from a given power source including at least one of thedistribution power grid or an alternative power resource respectively tothe microgrids or the single microgrid, and (iii) the current locationof the at least one first mobile energy storage and power consumptiondevice, in which the transactive energy information is determined basedon the charging availability information and at least one of the powerresource information or alternative power resource informationindicating availability and pricing of electric power for supply to agiven microgrid from the alternative power resource; and transmitting,over the communication network, a charging instruction signal forcharging the battery of the at least one first mobile energy storage andpower consumption device using electric power supplied from the at leastone of the distribution power grid or the alternative power resource,according respectively to the at least one power charging schedule.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus may providefor charging a plurality of mobile energy storage and power consumptiondevices, wherein charging-related operations for each of the mobileenergy storage and power consumption devices and for a plurality ofcharging apparatuses are associated with one another, wherein thecharging apparatuses are on a plurality of microgrids or a singlemicrogrid, wherein the microgrids respectively extend from differentelectric power distribution nodes of a distribution power grid orpremises distribution network and are associated with respectivegeographic areas or areas of the premises distribution network, andwherein each of the microgrids or the single microgrid is configured tobe supplied with a predetermined maximum power from the distributionpower grid or the premises distribution network via the powerdistribution node corresponding thereto, the apparatus comprising: aprocessor and a memory including instructions which, when executed bythe processor, control: receiving, over a communication network, (i)mobile energy storage and power consumption device informationindicating current energy storage level, current energy usage rate,current location and energy storage capacity respectively for the mobileenergy storage and power consumption devices, (ii) charging availabilityinformation indicating current and expected charging operating statusrespectively for the charging apparatuses, and (iii) power resourceinformation indicating availability and pricing of electric power forsupply to the microgrids or the single microgrid from the distributionpower grid or the premises distribution network; determining, for atleast one first mobile energy storage and power consumption device ofthe mobile energy storage and consumption devices, based on the mobileenergy storage and power consumption device information and informationindicating predetermined timing for providing a predetermined minimumcharge level at the at least one first mobile energy storage and powerconsumption device, at least one first power charging schedule forcharging a battery of the at least one first mobile energy storage andpower consumption device, in accordance with (i) the chargingavailability information, (ii) transactive energy information indicatingpricing for supplying electric power from a given power source includingat least one of the distribution power grid or an alternative powerresource respectively to the microgrids or the single microgrid, and(iii) the current location of the at least one first mobile energystorage and power consumption device, in which the transactive energyinformation is determined based on the charging availability informationand at least one of the power resource information or alternative powerresource information indicating availability and pricing of electricpower for supply to a given microgrid from the alternative powerresource; and transmitting, over the communication network, a charginginstruction signal for charging the battery of the at least one firstmobile energy storage and power consumption device using electric powersupplied from the at least one of the distribution power grid or thealternative power resource, according respectively to the at least onepower charging schedule.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosurewill be further appreciated when considered with reference to thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments and accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like elements. Indescribing the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosureillustrated in the drawings, specific terminology may be used for thesake of clarity. However, the aspects of the present disclosure are notintended to be limited to the specific terms used.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a prior art residential electrical powersystem with a typical “dumb” electrical meter and “dumb” electricvehicle supply equipment (EVSE).

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a prior art residential electrical powersystem which includes smart EV charging apparatuses and smart electricalmeters.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary electrical power controlsystem, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary electrical power controlsystem, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a block diagram of an exemplary powersystem controller and computing devices of or associated with the powercontrol system of FIG. 3 or 4, in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary high level flow diagram of a method fordetermining a power charging schedule for charging an EV using aselected microgrid, in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

The technology of the present disclosure relates to, by way of example,a power system controller and method for controlling charging of one ormore mobile energy storage and power consumption apparatuses, such asEVs, and in particular fleets of EVs, such as buses, which areassociated with one another, such as by being a part of a bus fleet forwhich charging related operations may be performed according to acentralized control of the charging related operations for the EVs, in apower-constrained application of micro-electric power grids(“microgrid”), where a given microgrid, which may be at a same ordifferent geographic location as another given microgird, may beassociated with respective charging apparatuses whose charging relatedoperations are associated with one another and controlled in common withthe control of the EV charging related operations for the EV bus fleet,and where the charging apparatuses are for charging the EVs from powersupplied from a power distribution grid or an alternative powerresource, such as a DER, Renewable or Energy Storage system, of acustomer premises distribution network which may include one or moremicrogrids, according to power charging schedules, respectively. Forpurposes of the present disclosure, a microgrid is electric powerwiring, including power line and customer premises wiring, extendingfrom a transformer which is downstream of an electric power meter whichsupplies electric power from the Grid. A single microgrid may existdownstream of the electric power meter, or multiple micogrids may extendfrom respective transformers, which are downstream of and extend fromanother transformer associated with the electric power meter throughwhich electric power is supplied from the Grid to the multiplemicrogrids. The respective transformers may be respective powerdistribution nodes of a premises power distribution network whichextends from the another transformer and includes the multiplemicrogrids.

For example, the typical EV bus fleet may have a large number of EVbuses and a number of depots served by respective microgrids, and thefleets of EVs may be charged by charging apparatuses of the depots whenthe EVs are stored or arrive at the end of route to the depots. Thepower charging schedules for the respective EVs of the fleet may bedetermined using one or more of (i) current energy storage level,current energy usage rate, current location and energy storage capacityinformation from controllers of mobile power storage and powerconsumption devices associated respectively with the EVs, (ii) chargingavailability information indicating current and expected chargingoperating status respectively for the charging apparatuses, and (iii)power resource information indicating availability and pricing ofelectric power for supply to the microgrids from the distribution powergrid or alternative power resources, such as a DER, Renewable and energystorage system, (iv) transactive energy information, such as from atransactive energy market, (v) information from Internet of Things (IoT)devices associated with users or others devices that may impactconsumption of power on the microgrids, and (vi) information related toenergy generation and power supply on a utility power grid (Grid) towhich the microgrids may be selectively connected and disconnected.

In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, power loads may beintelligently distributed over multiple depots that the EV fleet mayown, where different ones of the depots are not tied to the same feeder,transformer or even the same substation of the power distribution grid,or tied to respective sub-transformers of a single microgrid, based oninformation on available energy generation and storage and power supplyand consumption related information for EVs, charging apparatuses, thepower distribution grid, microgrids and DERs, communicated over acommunication network(s), which may provide an awareness of a localpower grid topology and may be used to balance loads among themicrogrids. Advantageously, the awareness of the local power gridtopology may be used to recommend to fleet EVs (in near real time) towhich depot to proceed for charging in order to maintain a favorableload balance among the microgrids. In embodiments of the presentdisclosure, local power grid topology may be used in combination withone or more of a Transactive Energy (TE) approach or a hierarchicaloptimization, to determine power charging schedules for multiple EVs ofan EV fleet.

In the present disclosure below, certain specific details are set forthin order to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosedembodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognizethat embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specificdetails, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In otherinstances, well-known structures associated with EV charging and an EVcharging system have not been shown or described in detail to avoidunnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the embodiments.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described generally withrespect to a power system controller, which may be employed in varioussettings for charging multiple batteries of respective EVs which areassociated with one another. Although the present disclosure uses EVbattery charging as an example, it is to be understood that the aspectsof the present disclosure may apply to any energy storage device such ascapacitors; any electrical power source such as DERs, Renewables andEVs, as well as to other applications such as electric airplanes,electric motorcycles and the like so on.

In one embodiment, the charging schedule may identify an EV chargingapparatus on a specific microgrid to be used for EV charging, timing ofEV charging using the EV charging apparatus, and timing of storage ofenergy and generation of power from the stored energy for supply on themicrogrid by one or more alternative power resources on the microgrid.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, the chargingschedule for a specific EV of an EV fleet may be determined based oncondition of the battery of the EV being charged, and local factors suchas capabilities of an EV charging apparatus and constraints on theelectrical power supply on the specific microgrid, such as, for example,whether other power consumption devices are active on the same specificmicrogrid.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, the chargingschedule may be determined in accordance with external factorsassociated with multiple layers in a power distribution hierarchy. Forexample, the power distribution hierarchy may include a utilitygenerator, high voltage distribution, low voltage distribution and localcustomer premise distribution, and external factors associated with thehierarchy may include public policy, tariffs, energy conservationprograms, energy being used by other loads on the Grid (e.g., rollingbrownouts), etc.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, the chargingschedule may be determined based on transactive energy information whichincludes information relating to external factors for determining powerdistribution according to a Transactive Energy model. The TransactiveEnergy model may be an implementation of a financial model that weighsand analyzes various factors to create a market price and terms andconditions for the purchase of energy. For example, energy consumingdevices and systems bid to buy energy, and energy producing devices andsystems bid to sell energy. The market, based on the sum of all bids(both to sell and buy), may set a price (“clearing price”), where demandand supply are equal and this process may repeat itself every fixedperiod of time, such as every 5 minutes. In the Transactive Energymodel, the energy demand may be generated by the “best” combination ofcentral (e.g., utility power plant) and local DERs (e.g., solar cells).“Best” may mean a combination of many factors including lowest cost,lowest polluting, most efficient and other related technical andfinancial factors. These factors may be determined by a series ofmetrics, such as wire capacity, raw material cost (e.g., coal, gas,water), cost to convert the raw materials into power (e.g., labor,shipping, weather, and processing) and alternative energy availability(e.g., wind, water, solar and stored energy sources). In the TransactiveEnergy model, the market drives the control of energy consuming devices.In one embodiment, determination of a power charging schedule responsiveto a need or request for charging the battery of an EV of the EV fleetmay be in accordance with a willingness of an owner of EV fleet to pay apremium for the energy on an energy market.

As discussed in detail below, the technology of the present disclosuremay incorporate transactive energy information related to theTransactive Energy model or similar processes into its capabilities anddecision rules for determining power charging schedules respectively forthe EVs of an EV fleet. The rules may use metric data to representdifferent factors that may be considered in determining the chargingschedule. The metric data may be categorized into ranges of values,real-time analog and event signals, or any other data sets whichrepresent information valuable to a decision process that intelligentlydetermines a power charging schedule for EVs according to local powergrid topology.

Example Systems

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary electric power system200. FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of another exemplary electricpower system 300 including several of the same or similar components asincluded in the system 200.

Referring to FIG. 3, the system 200 may include a power systemcontroller 240 configured to determine a power charging schedule forcharging a battery of an EV 202 of a fleet of EVs 202 from a microgrid204 using electric power supplied from the Grid or an alternative powerresource 218 of the system 200, according to an aspect of the presentdisclosure. The system 200 may include, in addition to the power systemcontroller 240, EV charging apparatuses 230 including respectivecontrollers (not show), and the alternative power resource 218 mayinclude a controller 218A, an energy storage system 220 and a Renewable222. Feeder 250 may couple a power distribution grid or Grid (not shown)via a transformer and electric meter (not shown) to a low voltagepowerline and electric power wiring 214, and include a controller (notshown) having a communication capabilties. The microgrid 204 of thesystem 200 may include the entirety of the wiring 214.

The wiring 214 may extend to the charging apparatuses 230 and thealternative power resource 218. Each EV charging apparatus 230 mayinclude power interfaces respectively for coupling to the wiring 214 andwiring 216 configured for connection to an EV 202, and a communicationinterface (not shown). In addition, other power consumption devices (notshown) may be coupled to the microgrid 204.

The EV 202 may include a controller 202A implementing a software “deviceagent” (DA) as described in detail below. Further, the EV 202 mayinclude location determination components (not shown), such as a GPSdevice, for generating location data indicating current location of theEV 202.

The controller of the charging apparatus 230, a controller 202A of theEV 202, the controller of the feeder 250 and the controller 218A may becommunicatively coupled, over one or more communication networks, withthe system controller 240 directly or indirectly, such as via acommunication gateway 260 which is physically located at a geographicarea of the microgrid 204. In one embodiment, the controller 202A may becommunicatively coupled with the gateway 260 via a WIFI link 244, andwith a controller of an EV charging apparatus by another communicationlink 245. In addition, the controllers of the EV charging apparatusesmay be communicatively linked with a power data platform device 280 viaa communication network 242. In addition, a distribution systemoperation (DSO) controller 270, which manages power distributionoperations for the power distribution grid, may be communicativelycoupled to the controller of the feeder 250 and the gateway 260 via acommunication network 248. Further, the platform device 280 may becommunicatively coupled to the power system controller 240 and thegateway 260 via the communication network 248.

In one embodiment, the communication network 242 may be a wired,wireless or powerline communication network that communicatively couplesthe charging apparatuses 230 to the internet or another communicationnetwork, such as a cloud communication network and where the gateway 260is coupled to the cloud communication network. In some embodiments, whenthe network 242 is a powerline communication network, which may includea HOMEPLUG network or the like, components of the powerlinecommunication network may determine power network topology information,for example, discover and identify locations of transformers in andpower line branching of an electric power network, such as within agiven microgrid or multiple microgrids extending from a transformer thatsupplies power from the Grid, for example, using technology as describedin U.S. Pat. No. 6,917,888, incorporated by reference herein, andcommunicate the power network topology information to the gateway 260.

As indicated above, the microgrid 204 of the system 200 may include theentirety of the wiring 214. For ease of reference, in the presentdisclosure, any power supply, power consumption, energy generation orenergy storage device supplying power to or supplied power from apowerline of an electric power grid, which may be the Grid or amicrogrid, is referred to below as being “on the electric power grid” or“on the microgrid”. In addition, a given EV 202 may be on an electricpower grid, when a power charging schedule for charging a battery fromthe microgrid 204 identifies the given EV 202 for supplying power to orreceiving power from the microgrid 204.

The controller 218A may implement a DA as described in detail below.Further, the gateway 260 may implement a software “auctioneer agent”(AA) as described in detail below.

The platform device 280 may be a computing device having a communicationcapabilities and that processes and analyzes power related consumptionand storage information, as described in detail below.

Referring to FIG. 4, the exemplary electric power system 300 may includea plurality of microgrids 304, and include components similar to or thesame as described for the system 200, such as EV charging apparatuses230, alternative power resources (not shown) connected to a microgrid304 and communication connections to a DSO (not shown) from controllersat power distribution nodes of a power distribution grid (Grid) (notshown). In the system 300, a substation 360 of the power distributiongrid may be connected to feeders 350A and 350B via power lines 358,where the feeder 350A is connected to local transformers 370A, 370B and370C via power lines 356, and microgrids 304A, 304B, 304C includingpowerlines and wiring 214 extend, respectively, from a load side of thelocal transformers 370A, 370B and 370C. The transformers 370B and 370C,for example, may be power distribution nodes of a premises distributionnetwork extending from a transformer (not shown) between the feeder 350Aand the transformers 370B and 370C. In some embodiments, the microgrids304B and 304C corresponding to the respective power distribution nodesmay be at a same or different geographic location. In addition, thefeeder 350B may be connected to local transformers 371A and 371B viapower lines 356, and microgrids 304D and 304E including powerlines andwiring 214 extend, respectively, from a load side of the localtransformers 371A and 371B. In addition, one more of the EV chargingapparatuses 230, such as the apparatuses 230 on the microgrid 304C, mayinclude a controller 230A that implements a software DA. It is to beunderstood that a DA may be implemented at any charging apparatus andEV, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

Further, gateways 380, which may be physically located at the geographicarea corresponding to the microgrids 304, respectively, may becommunicatively linked with controllers 202A or controllers 230A vialinks 244A, and with the platform 280 and the controller of the feeder350 via the communication network 248. The gateway 380 may implement asoftware “aggregation agent” (AgAS) which may perform the functions asdescribed in detail below.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the power systemcontroller 240 of the system 200 or 300. The controller 240 may be inthe form of a computing device that includes one or more processors 312,one or more memory 314, and other components commonly found in computingdevices.

The memory 314 may store information accessible by the one or moreprocessors 312, including instructions 316 that may be executed by theone or more processors 312. Memory may also include data 318 that can bestored, manipulated, or retrieved by the processor. Such data 318 mayalso be used for executing the instructions 316 and/or for performingother functions. Such memory may be any type of non-transitory mediareadable by the one or more processors, such as a hard-drive, solidstate hard-drive, memory card, ROM, RAM, DVD, CD-ROM, write-capable,read-only memories, etc.

The instructions 316 may be any set of instructions capable of beingread and executed by the one or more processors 312. The instructionsmay be stored in a location separate from the computing device, such asin a network attached storage drive, or locally at the computing device.The terms “instructions,” “functions,” “application,” “steps,” and“programs” may be used interchangeably herein.

Data 318 may be stored, retrieved and/or modified by the one or moreprocessors 312 in accordance with the instructions 316. Such data may bestored in one or more formats or structures, such as in a relational ornon-relational database, in a SQL database, as a table having manydifferent fields and records, XLS, TXT, or XML documents. The data mayalso be formatted in any computing device-readable format. In someembodiments the data may be encrypted. In addition, the controller 240may include a communication device 320 configured to provide wired orwireless communication capabilities. The one or more processors 312 maybe any type of processor, or more than one type of processor. Forexample, the one or more processors 312 may be CPUs from Intel, AMD, andApple, or application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) or system onchips (SoCs).

FIG. 5 illustrates the components of the controller 240 as being singlecomponents, however, the components may actually comprise multipleprocessors, computers, computing devices, or memories that may or maynot be stored within the same physical housing. For example, the memorymay be a hard drive or other storage media located in housings differentfrom that of the controller 240. Accordingly, references to a processor,computer, computing device, or memory herein will be understood toinclude references to a collection of processors, computers, computingdevices, or memories that may or may not operate in parallel. Further,although some functions described below are indicated as taking place ona single computing device having a single processor, various aspects ofthe subject matter described herein may be implemented by a plurality ofcomputing devices in series or in parallel. For example, in oneembodiment, functions performed by the power system controller 240 asdescribed below may at least be partially performed at one or both ofthe gateway 260/380 and the platform device 280.

Referring to FIG. 5, the controller 240 may be configured to providespecific functions in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure, and in some embodiments may be programmed with programs toperform some or all of the operations described herein. In someembodiments the controller 240 may be programmed to store, in the memory314, information on energy storage level, current energy usage rate,current location and energy storage capacity of EVs 202; information onoperating status of charging apparatuses 230; and information onavailability and pricing of electric power for supply from or to theGrid or an alternative power resource. Also, the controller 240 may beprogrammed to store, in the memory 314, transactive energy data,information on time slots for charging and routes of EVs 202, and otherenergy and power related data that may be received from a componentexternal to the system 200 or 300, such as over a communication network,which may include a power line communication network of power lines ofthe Grid or wiring or power lines of the microgrids. In addition, thecontroller 240 may store, in the memory 314, instructions forcontrolling: receiving or acquiring EV energy storage and powerconsumption, energy usage, EV location and EV storage capacityinformation; EV charger availability information; electric poweravailability and pricing information for the microgrids and alternativepower resources; and transactive energy information. In addition, thememory 314 may store instructions for controlling determining a powercharging schedule for charging EVs from charging apparatuses of selectedmicrogrid(s); transmitting charging instructions for charging EVsaccording to power charging schedules; and charging EVs from theselected microgrid(s) according to charging instructions.

Referring to FIG. 5, each of the controllers 202A, 218A and 230A, thegateways 260 and 380, and the platform device 380 of the systems 200 and300 may be configured in the form of respective computing devices 241similar to the controller 240, and include one or more processors,memory and instructions as described above. Each computing device 241may be a personal computing device, such as intended for use by a user,and have all of the components normally used in connection with apersonal computing device such as a central processing unit (CPU),memory (e.g., RAM and internal hard drives) storing data andinstructions, a display (e.g., a monitor having a screen, atouch-screen, a projector, a television, or other device that isoperable to display information), and a user input device (e.g., amouse, keyboard, touch-screen, or microphone). Although not shown, thecontroller 240 may also include a display and a user input device.

Although each computing device 241 may comprise a full-sized personalcomputing device, each computing device 241 may alternatively comprise amobile computing device capable of wirelessly exchanging data with aserver, such as the controller 240, over a network, such as theInternet. By way of example only, a computing device 241 may be a mobilephone or a wireless device such as a wireless-enabled PDA, a tablet PC,a netbook or an IoT device. In another example, a computing device 241may be a laptop computer.

Referring again to FIGS. 3-5, the gateways 260 and 380, each of thecontrollers 202A, 218A and 230A, the platform device 280 and the powersystem controller 240 may be communicatively connected with each othervia a communication network, and/or may be directly connected to eachother. The communication network may include interconnected protocolsand systems. For example, the network may be implemented via theInternet, intranets, local area networks (LAN), wide area networks(WAN), etc. Communication protocols such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and HTTP,Bluetooth, LTE, 3G, 4G, Edge, etc., power line communication networks,such as HOMPLUG and the like, and various combinations of the foregoingmay be used to allow nodes to communicate.

For example, the communication link 245 between the controller 202A ofan EV 202 and a controller 230A of a charging apparatus 230 may be basedon a PLC based standard (such as ISO/IEC 15118). Also, communicationbetween the controller 202A of an EV 202 or the controller 230A of acharger apparatus 230 and the gateway 260 may be over WiFi link 244, anduse an advanced protocol such as OCPP or future equivalent. The gateway260 may be connected via communication network 248 to the Internet, aCloud platform and the platform device 280, either via a direct wiredconnection or a wireless cellular connection, with a protocol such asOCPP or future equivalent. In additionally, each controller 202A of theEV 202 may have capability for wireless connection to the Internet viathe communication network 248.

Each of the gateway 260/380, each of the controllers 202A, 218A, and230A, the platform device 280 and the power system controller 240 may beimplemented by directly and/or indirectly communicating over a network,such as the networks 244 and 248 as shown in FIG. 5. In this regard, thegateways 260/380, the platform device 280, each of the controllers 202A,218A and 230A and the power system controller 240 may be at differentnodes of the networks 244/248 and capable of directly and indirectlycommunicating with other nodes of the network 244/248. As an example,each of the gateway 260/380, the platform device 280, each of thecontrollers 202A, 218A and 230A and the power system controller 240 mayinclude web servers capable of communicating with another computingdevice via the network 244/248, and with a computing device external tothe system 200 or 300 via the network 244/248. For example, thecontroller 240 may use the network 244/248 to transmit and presentinformation to a user, such as a user of an EV 202 or an owner of thecharging apparatuses 230 used to charge the fleet of EVs, on a display,such as displays respectively of controllers 202A and 230A.

In one embodiment, a smart meter may be installed at a transformer 370or feeder 350 and be a power control device capable of measuring andcontrolling or helping to control, through messaging and signalingmeans, energy consumption (Grid to load of microgrids of the powersystem 200 or 300) and energy generation (load of the microgrids of thepower system 200 or 300 to Grid), and may communicate with othercomponents of the power system 200 or 300 to receive energy and powerrelated information. In addition, the smart meter may operate toselectively connect the microgrid extending on the load side thereof tothe Grid and disconnect (isolate) the microgrid from the Grid, forexample, under control of the system controller 240.

The alternative power resources of the Renewable 222 may generate energyand output electrical power based on the generated energy, similar toRenewable 130 described above. In addition, the controller 218A maycontrol transmitting energy generation and power output relatedinformation to the system controller 240; receiving control informationfrom the system controller 240 for controlling the output of powertherefrom; and managing, based on the control information, output ofpower to the microgrid associated therewith from the energy generated.

The storage system 220 may store energy which may be used to outputelectrical power, similarly as described above for the storage system120. In addition, the controller 218A of the storage system 220 maycontrol transmission of energy storage and power output information tothe system controller 240; receiving control information from the systemcontroller 240 for controlling storage of energy, such as from poweroutput on the microgrid 204 (see FIG. 3) based on energy from Renewable222; and receiving control information from the system controller 240for controlling output of power to the microgrid 204 based on the storedenergy of the system 220.

In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, the controllerof an EV 202 may include a mobile app which a user of the EV mayconfigure to allow access, by the controller 240, to variousinformation, such as current location of EV, current route of EV, etc.In addition, the mobile app may communicate with the controller 240, orcontrollers 230A at the EV charging apparatuses 230, via a communicationnetwork, to receive notifications and charging instructions.

In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, any of thecontrollers 202A, 218A and 230A, the gateway 260/380, the platformdevice 280 and a computing device external to the system 200 or 300, maybe configured to perform all or a portion of the methods describedherein, including all of the functions of the controller 240. Forexample, one or more computing devices may be configured to providespecific functions in accordance with embodiments of the technology. Inthis regard, one or more computing devices may maintain one or morestorage devices, on which energy and power related data as well as otheradditional data used to control charging of a battery of an EV using aselected microgrid 304 of the system 300 (see FIG. 4), and to determinea power charging schedule for charging the battery of the EV 202 fromthe microgrid 304, may be stored.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, it is to be understood that an electricalpower system, such as the system 200 or 300, may include any number ofcommunicatively connected computing devices 241 as controllers ofrespective power consumption, energy generation and energy storagecomponents of the system, with each different computing device being ata different node of a communication network.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, the controller240 may perform processing to decide how to charge multiple EVs 202using power from selected microgrids of multiple electric power grids304, or a single microgrid formed from a plurality sub-microgrids havingrespective charging apparatuses thereon, based on power grid topologyinformation, to provide for distributing loads for charging over theselected microgrid(s) that balance loads on the microgrids extendingfrom a power distribution grid and cost effectively charge the EVs 202according to amount of charge and timing needed for charging. Theprocessing may determine power charging schedules for the EVs, based onenergy and power related information received over a communicationnetwork from controllers of the power system 200 or 300, and also energyand power related information from external the power system 200 or 300,such as from the Grid and controllers of EVs 202 that are not part ofthe system 200 or 300. The controller 240 may receive information aboutthe physical, social and electrical environment, and EV fleetrequirements, types of devices being charged and power capacity of themicrogrids 304 and the power distribution grid, and process suchinformation to determine a power charging schedule which is a best wayto charge the fleet of EVs from the microgrids 304.

Example Methods

For purposes of illustrating the features of the present disclosure, anexemplary process for determining a power charging schedule for charginga battery of one more EVs 202 of a fleet of EVs using a selectedmicrogrid(s) 304 of the system 300 as shown in FIG. 4, is describedbelow in connection with operations performed at components of the powersystem controller 240.

Referring to FIG. 6, a high-level block diagram 600 of a method forcharging batteries of respective EVs 202 using the charging apparatuses302 of the microgrids 304 of the system 300 is illustrated.

In block 602, the controller 240 may receive, via one or morecommunication networks, from controllers 202A of respective EVs 202,energy storage and power consumption device information indicatingcurrent energy storage level, current energy usage rate, currentlocation and energy storage capacity respectively for the EVs 202. Inaddition, the controller 240 may receive, via one or more communicationnetworks, from controllers 230A of respective charging apparatuses 230,charging availability information indicating current and expectedcharging operating status respectively for the charging apparatuses 230.Further, the controller 240 may receive, via one or more communicationnetworks, from a DSO 270 or other power information source device, powerresource information indicating availability and pricing of electricpower for supply to the microgrids 304 from the distribution power gridor alternative power resources on the microgrids 304. Also, thecontroller 240 may receive, via one or more communication networks,transactive energy information concerning the microgrids 304 and thepower distribution grid (Grid).

In addition, the controller 240 may receive, over a communicationnetwork, information associated with devices on the microgrids 304 thatmay affect power consumption and energy generation and storage on themicrogrids 304. For ease of reference, any energy and power relatedinformation which is received at the controller 240 and may be used todetermine a power charging schedule for EVs 202 according to aspects ofthe present disclosure is referred to herein as EP information. In someembodiments, in block 602 the controller 240 may automaticallycontinuously or periodically attempt to acquire desired EP information,over a communication network, from available sources of EP information.

In one embodiment, the EP information may indicate any other alternativepower resources available for use at a microgrid, such as an EV 202 witha fully charged battery. In a further embodiment, the EP information mayconcern a power infrastructure specification of the Grid, feeder 350,transformer 370 and substation 360, such as current limits ontransmission lines, transformer specifications that are not to beexceeded, and the like.

In one embodiment, the EP information may include alternative powerresource information indicating time of availability and maximum powercharging rate of a charging apparatus 230 associated with an alternativepower resource, such as a Renewable 222 which is associated with anenergy storage system 220.

In block 604, the controller 240 may receive, via a communicationnetwork, EV charging and timing information, such as bus routeinformation for each EV 202 of the EV fleet, indicating a predeterminedtime at which a battery of an EV 202 needs to be charged to obtain apredetermined minimum charge level.

In one embodiment, the EP information may include information related toconsumption of power at the EVs over time.

In block 606, the controller 240, using the EP information received inblock 602, and other EP information that may be received in block 604,may determine a power charging schedule for each of one or more EVs 202,where each EV 202 is to be charged using power supplied from a chargingapparatus 230 associated with a selected microgrid 304 of the microgrids304. The power charging schedule may be determined based on informationindicating current energy storage level, current energy usage rate,current location and energy storage capacity of EVs that require chargewithin a predetermined time period using information indicatingpredetermined timing for providing a predetermined minimum charge levelfor the EVs. The power charging schedule may be determined in accordancewith charging availability information for charging apparatuses 230 andtransactive energy information indicating pricing for supplying electricpower from the distribution power grid via a specific microgrid 304, oran alternative power resource associated with a corresponding microgrid,and the current location of the EVs that require charging within thepredetermined time period.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, the controller240 may be configured to self-organize the system 200 or 300 so that anypower resources that form a power resource system providing for supplyof power to a selected microgrid are used effectively to provide fulland reliable charging capability, according to a power chargingschedule. For example, the system 300 may be configured, under controlof the controller 240, to be self-organizing and capable of operating asa centralized and decentralized (distributed) system which implements“Islanding” of the system 300. Islanding is a controlled disconnectionof a small self-sufficient microgrid from a main utility grid. Forexample, the controller 240 may self-organize the system 300 such thatthe microgrid 304B is isolated from the Grid, and a power resourcesystem of the system 300, which does not include the Grid as a source ofpower for the microgrid 304B, may satisfy predetermined powerconsumption requirements of the EVs charging from charging apparatuseson the microgrid 304B.

In block 606, the controller 240 may apply metrics from a variety oftypes of EP information to make logical decisions within the powersupply constraints of the microgrids 304 of the system 300 and the EPinformation available. In one embodiment, the power charging schedulemay be determined such that the schedule satisfies an objective or rulefor minimizing overall charging price, subject to a number ofconstraints, such as transformer power limits. In one embodiment, thepower charging schedule may be in accordance with a charging processfound in various standards, such as the ISO/IEC 15118 family ofstandards. In another embodiment, the power charging schedule may needto satisfy safety conditions for EV charging.

In one embodiment, the controller 240 may process EP information basedon rules established to predict current and future likelihood forcharging demand. In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 4, based onapplication of such rules, the controller 240 may determine a powercharging schedule for, for example, EVs 202 having larger batteries atcharging apparatuses associated with microgrid 304D, based on no otherEVs being present at the bus depot which includes charging apparatusesof the microgrid 304D.

In one embodiment, the controller 240 may determine the schedule usingalternative power resource information from the controller 218 of thealternative power resources 220 and 222, which may be associated withmicrogrid. For example, the controller 240 may determine whetheralternative local energy is available which may provide cheaper and morerenewable energy in place of or in addition to the utility powercapabilities.

In another embodiment, the controller 240 may determine a power chargingschedule for charging the EV 202 from a selected microgrid 304, relyingupon combinations of metric data that are determined to be a desired orbest combination of factors that ensure a desired result of lowest cost,fastest recharge rate, lowest pollution and most reliable energy source.

In another embodiment, the controller 240, based on the EP informationavailable and various pre-configured rules, may determine a powercharging schedule which provides that EV charging is performed at alowest possible cost and carbon foot print.

In some embodiments, the controller 240 may use machine-learning-basedanalytics to learn behaviors of the EVs that may require charging fromthe microgrids 304 of the system 300, with respect to energy usage orpower delivery. For example, busses of EV bus fleets may have regularroutes and schedules, and the actual times, and the variation during theday or season may be learned and used to determine power chargingschedules. In one embodiment, such data may be communicated by the powercontroller 240 to a controller of a power utility for use in forecastingpower usage.

In one embodiment the controller 240 may use transactive energyinformation to determine the charging schedule. The transactive energyinformation may be based on results of energy consumers and producerssubmitting bids to buy and sell, respectively, a specific amount ofenergy for a certain price to an energy market, from which the clearingprice is determined. The controller 240 may acquire information of theresults of such bidding, including information indicating a user whoaccepts a clearing price, and determine a power charging schedule for anEV, based on those consumers who bid at or above the clearing price oraccepted the clearing price. As the bid submission and acceptance of theclearing price may be repeated (typically every few minutes), thecontroller 240 may rely upon real-time pricing to determine a powercharging schedule for EVs at microgrids of a power system.

In one embodiment, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the controllers 202A and230A may execute software instructions that implement a DA that performsa process of bidding to buy or sell energy. In addition, the gateway 380may execute software instructions that implement an AgAs that performs aprocess of aggregating bids from multiple DAs and accepting informationof power supply constraints from a local power utility, such as receivedfrom DSO 270. Further, the gateway 260 or the platform device 280 in thesystems 200 or 300, respectively, may execute software instructions thatimplement an AA that aggregates all bids from all AgAs and establishes aclearing price for supplying power, which is then distributed to allAgAs and from there to all DAs. This process may repeat periodically,such every few minutes.

In one embodiment, for example, if an EV is almost discharged to a pointof damaging the battery, such EV may be given priority status to chargeamong multiple power charging schedules for respective EVs.

In one embodiment, the charging schedule may be based on a hierarchicalaggregation used to implement a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) (i.e., alogical construct that represents a sum of decisions rather than aspecific power plan). In this aggregation, transactive energyinformation related to a Transactive Energy model may be obtained, suchthat multiple bids from a set of power related devices or systems arecollected and merged to determine a market clearing price, and a powercharging schedule is determined using the market clearing price for aspecified time period of charging. For example, in an exemplaryembodiment, large numbers of EVs of the EV bus fleet that aretemporarily not used and are in one or more depots associated withrespective microgrids associated with the EV bus fleet may serve aspooled energy storage devices and represent a VPP that the DSO may usewhen needed. Similarly, the temporarily unused EVs in such depots may beused for local ancillary services providing, for example, frequencystabilization, voltage control, etc.

In another embodiment, the controller 240, alone or in combination withanother computing device, may serve as an energy aggregation agent thatmanages multiple agents as energy generation and storage and powerconsumption devices, and act as a market or auctioneer agent to computeand publish a clearing price, over a communication network.

In one embodiment, the controller 240 may, from the EP information,determine current and anticipated load demand and capabilities, fordetermining a power charging schedule that provides sufficient power forthe EV while avoiding overloading of the microgrids 304.

In block 608, the controller 240 may control transmission of a charginginstruction signal for charging EVs 202 from selected microgrids 304,according to the power charging schedules. In one embodiment, charginginstruction signals may be transmitted respectively to one or more ofthe components of the system 300 on the selected microgrids 304, andcause a controller 218A or controller 202A of an EV 202 to performenergy generation or storage, according to the power charging schedule.In one embodiment, the charging instruction signal may include acharging reservation indicating a specific EV charging apparatus 230 ona microgrid 304A at which to charge a specific EV 202 and a time periodat which to charge the EV 202 at the EV charging apparatus 230 on themicrogrid 304A, and respective charging instruction signals may betransmitted for reception by the respective controllers of the specificEV and the EV charging apparatuses of the microgrid 304A.

In a desired embodiment, the receiving information, determining powercharging schedules, and transmitting charging instructions functions,such as described with respect to FIG. 6, are performed in real time orsubstantially real time.

In block 610, the controller 240 alone or in combination with one ormore controllers of components of the system 200 or 300 may controlcharging one or more EVs 202 from one or more microgrids using acharging apparatus based on charging instruction signals transmitted.

In an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, referring toFIG. 4, an EV 202X of a bus fleet of EVs 202 may have completed itsroute and need to return to a bus depot associated with a same entitythat operates and is associated with the bus fleet to recharge. The EV202X may have requirements, according to a bus schedule for the busfleet, as to when to leave the depot and, therefore, the charging of itsbattery to provide sufficient stored energy at its battery to complete anext route of the EV 202X. The platform device 280 may receiveinformation regarding physical connection of a given bus EV 202 to acharging apparatus via a first communication link from the EV 202 to thecharging apparatus, and from the charging apparatus via a communicationnetwork, which may be OCPP 1.6J protocol. The first link may be used tocollect other information, such as how much energy an EV needs and whatcharging plan is selected by the EV, and may also include a unique BusID. The controller DAs on buses or charging apparatuses may bid to buypower, where a bid may indicate required power for a next time slot andprice. As the DSO 270 operates the distribution power grid supplyingpower to the microgrids of the system 300, an amount of power beingdelivered to each of its feeders 350 and substations 360, is known ateach instant. The DSO 270 may send, over a communication network,real-time EV information concerning power supply from the distributionpower grid, and information on maximal capacities, transformertemperature limits, etc., of feeders, substations and transformers, to agateway 380 acting as an AgAs.

The AgAs as the gateways 380 may aggregate all bids for charging at therespective depots, and the DAs at controllers of alternative powerresources 281 may bid to sell power, where the bid indicates availablepower to sell for a next time slot and price. The AgAs may rely uponsuch information from the DSO, and aggregated bid information from theDA bids for power to charge EVs, and determine an aggregated bid whichthe gateway 380 may then send to the platform device 280 acting as anAA. It is to be understood that, in an alternative embodiment, the DSO280 may send such information directly to the platform device 280. Inone embodiment, if a depot is associated with a microgrid having analternative power resource, such as solar panels on the depot roof, thealternative power resource may be included as a supply bidder andcommunicate such bids from the DA controller thereof to a local gateway380.

In the exemplary implementation, some of the available depots associatedrespectively with the microgrids 304 may already be full and some or allof their charging apparatuses may be in use, and thus already bestressing the part of the distribution network feeding the bus depot inthe geographic area associated with the corresponding grid. For example,the charging apparatuses in depots associated with the geographic areaserved by the microgrids 304A, 304B and 304C may all be in use, suchthat price of charging may be determined to be higher for suchmicrogrids. In addition, a depot associated with the microgrid 304E maybe full of buses but not necessarily charging, and a depot associatedwith microgrid 304D may be about empty (no charging apparatuses thereofbeing in use), but other users (e.g., homeowners) receiving power fromthe feeder 350B may be consuming power such that the local feeder isoverstressed. Transactive energy information may reflect a topology ofthe local microgrids, which indicates the power being delivered at everyinstant for the grids 304.

The AA may establish, based on the transactive energy information, theclearing price (at which supply equals demand) and broadcast this priceinformation to the AgAs, which may include prices established forsupplying power from the distribution power grid to the microgrids 304respectively. In turn, the AgAs at the gateway 380, collectively, maydetermine a power charging schedule for the EVs to allocate power to thecharging apparatuses on selected ones of the microgrids based on bids.For example, lower occupancy depots may have access to more power and ata lower price, whereas depots having many buses which are connected to afeeder and/or transformer, etc., are power stressed, and thus may beassociated with higher prices for supplying electric power from themicrogrid corresponding thereto.

Returning to the exemplary implementation, the bus whose location isknown from its reported GPS location information, for example, to thecontroller 240 via gateway 380 and DA controller 202, may receiveinstructions, which are included in an instruction signal transmittedfrom the gateway 380 according to the power charging schedule. Theinstruction signals may indicate the closest, lowest “price” depot forcharging and the best route to arrive at the charging apparatus in suchdepot based on the current location of the EV.

In one embodiment, where, of an EV bus fleet, a first EV has a firstbattery close to fully charged and a second EV has a second battery lessthan half-charged, the first and second batteries having the same chargecapacity and requiring a full charge for completing a respective nextbus route, and real-time EP information for a first microgrid indicatesa large capacity for supplying power for charging and for a secondmicrogrid indicates a small capacity for supplying power for charging,where the first and second microgrids are supplied power from a sameupstream transformer of the Grid, the power charging schedules may bedetermined to provide for charging of the first EV at a chargingapparatus of the second microgrid and the second EV at a chargingapparatus of the first microgrid and include information for directingthe first and second EVs to a location of the charging apparatuses ofthe respective first and second microgrids. In this manner, the powercharging schedules may be determined to provide for load balancing atthe first and second microgrids.

In one embodiment, the DSO 270 may publish its day-ahead forecast to acloud platform from which the computing device acting as an AA mayestablish baseline pricing for charging, from which a power chargingschedule is determined.

In one embodiment, a first power charging schedule may indicate a firsttime for charging a storage device from energy of a battery of an EV 202over a specific microgrid and a second time after the first time forcharging the battery of another EV 202 using power supplied from thestorage device over the same microgrid.

In another embodiment, a first power charging schedule may indicatecharging by a first charging apparatus 230 of a first microgrid when anumber of other charging apparatuses 230 of a microgrid are in use or tobe used at a predetermined time exceeds by a predetermined value anumber of charging apparatus of the first microgrid in use or to be usedat the predetermined time. In a further embodiment, a location of ageographic area of the first microgrid is nearer to the current locationof a first EV 202 than a location of the geographic area associated witha third microgrid having a substantially same number of chargingapparatuses in use or to be used at the predetermined timing.

In one embodiment, the controller 240 may, based on EP informationindicating charging and power usage by EVs of the fleet, determineenergy usage behavioral patterns of energy usage for individual EVs ofthe fleet, which may include effects that season of the year has onenergy usage, and provide information on such energy patterns, which mayindicate faulty, inefficient or defective batteries of an EV, to acomputing device of an EV fleet owner. In addition, the EV fleet owneradvantageously may use such pattern information to determine moreefficient charging techniques for EVs of the fleet, which may includeadjusting bus routes of EVs.

In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 6, power resourceinformation may be received by a power system controller over apowerline communication network that is communicatively coupled tocharging apparatuses, such of the system 300, where the powerlinecommunication network determines power network topology information byanalyzing a powerline communication signal transmitted from atransmitter to a receiver and a result of the analyzing is combined withidentities and locations of electric power components in at least onemicrogrid 304 of the microgrids 304, a premises distribution network orthe distribution power grid, and where the network topology informationis included in the power resource information.

In another embodiment, the power charging schedules for EVs of a fleetmay be determined by hierarchical optimation, which does not include abidding process. The hierarchical optimation, for example, may rely uponinput conditions such as energy needed to charge a specific EV bus, timewhen the charge needs to be completed, and availability of power forcharging at a charging apparatus of a depot associated with a specificmicrogrid, and optimize the data of the input conditions, such that, forexample, charging of the battery of the EV from the charging apparatusin a first hour is 7 KW and in a second hour is 3 KW, which avoidsstress on the transformer associated with the microgrid.

Most of the foregoing alternative examples are not mutually exclusive,but may be implemented in various combinations to achieve uniqueadvantages. As these and other variations and combinations of thefeatures discussed above may be utilized without departing from thesubject matter defined by the paragraphs, the foregoing description ofthe embodiments should be taken by way of illustration rather than byway of limitation of the subject matter defined by the paragraphs. As anexample, the preceding operations do not have to be performed in theprecise order described above. Rather, various steps can be handled in adifferent order, such as reversed, or simultaneously. Steps can also beomitted unless otherwise stated. In addition, the provision of theexamples described herein, as well as clauses phrased as “such as,”“including” and the like, should not be interpreted as limiting thesubject matter of the paragraphs to the specific examples; rather, theexamples are intended to illustrate only one of many possibleembodiments. Further, the same reference numbers in different drawingsmay identify the same or similar elements.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for charging a plurality of mobileenergy storage and power consumption devices, wherein charging-relatedoperations for each of the mobile energy storage and power consumptiondevices and for a plurality of charging apparatuses are associated withone another, wherein the charging apparatuses are on a plurality ofmicrogrids or a single microgrid, wherein the microgrids respectivelyextend from different electric power distribution nodes of adistribution power grid or premises distribution network and areassociated with respective geographic areas or areas of the premisesdistribution network, and wherein each of the microgrids or the singlemicrogrid is configured to be supplied with a predetermined maximumpower from the distribution power grid or the premises distributionnetwork via the power distribution node corresponding thereto, themethod comprising: controlling, by a processing device, at a powersystem control device, receiving, over a communication network, (i)mobile energy storage and power consumption device informationindicating current energy storage level, current energy usage rate,current location and energy storage capacity respectively for the mobileenergy storage and power consumption devices, (ii) charging availabilityinformation indicating current and expected charging operating statusrespectively for the charging apparatuses, and (iii) power resourceinformation indicating availability and pricing of electric power forsupply to the microgrids or the single microgrid from the distributionpower grid or the premises distribution network; determining, for atleast one first mobile energy storage and power consumption device ofthe mobile energy storage and consumption devices, based on the mobileenergy storage and power consumption device information and informationindicating predetermined timing for providing a predetermined minimumcharge level at the at least one first mobile energy storage and powerconsumption device, at least one first power charging schedule forcharging a battery of the at least one first mobile energy storage andpower consumption device, in accordance with (i) the chargingavailability information, (ii) transactive energy information indicatingpricing for supplying electric power from a given power source includingat least one of the distribution power grid or an alternative powerresource respectively to the microgrids or the single microgrid, and(iii) the current location of the at least one first mobile energystorage and power consumption device, in which the transactive energyinformation is determined based on the charging availability informationand at least one of the power resource information or alternative powerresource information indicating availability and pricing of electricpower for supply to a given microgrid from the alternative powerresource; and transmitting, over the communication network, a charginginstruction signal for charging the battery of the at least one firstmobile energy storage and power consumption device using electric powersupplied from the at least one of the distribution power grid or thealternative power resource, according respectively to the at least onepower charging schedule.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the electricpower distribution nodes include a feeder, transformer or substation ofthe distribution power grid or a transformer of a given microgridextending from another transformer of the distribution power grid. 3.The method of claim 1, further comprising: controlling, by theprocessing device, receiving over the communication network, thealternative power resource information, and wherein each of the mobileenergy storage and power consumption device information, the chargingavailability information, the power resource information and thealternative power resource information is received in real time at thepower system control device, and wherein the charging instruction signalfor the least one first mobile energy storage and power consumptiondevice is transmitted in real time.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe charging instruction signal for the least one first mobile energystorage and power consumption device is implemented at a computingdevice according to the association of the mobile energy storage andpower consumption devices and the plurality of charging apparatuses withone another.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one firstpower charging schedule is determined for maintaining balanced loadsrespectively at the microgrids or the single microgrid with regard toelectric power being supplied from the power distribution grid or thepremises distribution network.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the atleast one first power charging schedule indicates a first chargingapparatus of the charging apparatuses selected by optimizing smallestdistance from the current location and lowest price for supply ofelectric power among the respective microgrids.
 7. The method of claim6, where the at least one first power charging schedule indicates apredetermined route from the current location to a location of the firstcharging apparatus.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the predeterminedroute is determined with regard to optimizing loading at the microgrids.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transactive energy information isdetermined from power consumption device information indicating powerconsumption by at least one stationary power consumption devicerespectively on at least one of the microgrids.
 10. The method of claim1, wherein the charging availability information for the chargingapparatuses associated with a given microgrid is received from anaggregation agent device that aggregates the information indicating thepredetermined timing for the at least one first mobile energy storageand power consumption device and the charging availability informationfor each given charging apparatus associated with the given microgrid.11. The method of claim 10, wherein the information indicating thepredetermined timing for the at least one first mobile energy storageand power consumption device further includes a bid price for charging.12. The method of claim 10, wherein the power resource informationindicates availability and pricing of electric power for supply to thegiven microgrid from the power distribution gird or the premisesdistribution network and is aggregated by and received from theaggregation agent.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the power resourceinformation further indicates maximal capacity of a transformer and amaximum transformer temperature.
 14. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: controlling, by the processing device, receiving, over thecommunication network, the alternative energy resource informationindicating availability of supply of electric power from the alternativeenergy resource at a future time at a predetermined price; wherein theat least one first power charging schedule and the transactive energyinformation are determined using the alternative energy resourceinformation.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative energyresource is a renewable energy resource.
 16. The method of claim 14,wherein the alternative energy resource is associated with a givenmicrogird of the microgrids and the transactive energy informationindicates pricing for supplying electric power using the alternativeenergy resource and is determined based the alternative energy resourceinformation.
 17. The method of claim 1, in which the transactive energyinformation is received over the communication network from anauctioning agent that establishes pricing for supply of electric powerfor the respective microgrids from the distribution power grid or thepremises distribution network, according to the power resourceinformation and power consumption device information indicating currentand expected power consumption by stationary power consumption devicesrespectively on the microgrids.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein theat least one first power charging schedule indicates a first time forcharging a first energy storage device from energy of a battery of oneof the mobile energy storage and power consumption devices over a givenmicrogrid of the microgrids and a second time after the first time forcharging the battery of the at least one first mobile energy storage andpower consumption device using power supplied from the first energystorage device over the given microgrid.
 19. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one first power charging schedule indicatescharging by a first charging apparatus of a plurality of first chargingapparatuses of a first microgrid when a number of second chargingapparatuses of a second microgrid in use or to be used at thepredetermined timing exceeds by a predetermined value a number of thefirst charging apparatus in use or to be used at the predeterminedtiming.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein a location of the geographicarea of the first microgrid is nearer to the current location of the atleast first mobile energy storage and power consumption device than alocation of the geographic area associated with a third microgrid havinga substantially same number of third charging apparatuses in use or tobe used at the predetermined timing.
 21. The method of claim 1, whereinthe at least one first power charging schedule indicates charging by afirst charging apparatus of a plurality of first charging apparatuses ofa first microgrid of the microgrids and is determined in accordance withthe power resource information indicating availability of electric powerfor supply to the first microgrid.
 22. The method of claim 1, whereinthe mobile energy storage and power consumption devices are contained inrespective electric vehicles, and the method further comprising:controlling, by the processing device, transmitting, over thecommunication network to a power distribution grid control device,information indicating scheduling information of routes and times forthe mobile energy storage and power consumption devices.
 23. The methodof claim 22, wherein the electric vehicles are electric buses of a fleetof busses associated with one another.
 24. The method of claim 23,wherein the at least one first power charging schedule indicates aplurality of the electric buses from which energy is to be supplied frombatteries respectively thereof over a respective microgrid to the powerdistribution grid during a second predetermined time, in accordance witha determination of frequency stabilization and voltage control.
 25. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the charging-related operations for each ofthe mobile energy storage and power consumption devices include chargingand discharging of a battery of each of the mobile energy storage andpower consumption devices.
 26. The method of claim 1, wherein thecharging-related operations for a given mobile energy storage and powerconsumption device of the mobile energy storage and power consumptiondevices are controlled in accordance with a given charging instructionsignal.
 27. The method of claim 1, wherein the power resourceinformation is received over a powerline communication network that iscommunicatively coupled to the charging apparatuses, and wherein thepowerline communication network determines power network topologyinformation by analyzing a powerline communication signal transmittedfrom a transmitter to a receiver and a result of the analyzing iscombined with identities and locations of electric power components inat least one of a first given microgrid of the microgrids, the premisesdistribution network or the distribution power grid, the networktopology information being included in the power resource information.28. The method of claim 21, further comprising, when a first EV has afirst battery close to fully charged and a second EV has a secondbattery less than half-charged, the first and second batteries having asame charge capacity and requiring a full charge for completing arespective next bus route, and the charging availability informationindicates for a first microgrid of the microgrids a large capacity forsupplying power for charging and for a second microgrid of themicrogrids indicates a small capacity for supplying power for charging,where the first and second microgrids are supplied power from a sameupstream transformer of the distribution power grid, controlling, by theprocessing device, determining second and third power charging schedulesto provide for charging respectively of the first EV at a first chargingapparatus of the second microgrid and the second EV at a first chargingapparatus of the first microgrid and transmitting second charginginstruction signals including information for directing the first andsecond EVs to a location of the charging apparatuses of the respectivefirst and second microgrids, in which the second and third powercharging schedules are determined to provide for load balancing at thefirst and second microgrids.
 29. An apparatus for charging a pluralityof mobile energy storage and power consumption devices, whereincharging-related operations for each of the mobile energy storage andpower consumption devices and for a plurality of charging apparatusesare associated with one another, wherein the charging apparatuses are ona plurality of microgrids or a single microgrid, wherein the microgridsrespectively extend from different electric power distribution nodes ofa distribution power grid or premises distribution network and areassociated with respective geographic areas or areas of the premisesdistribution network, and wherein each of the microgrids or the singlemicrogrid is configured to be supplied with a predetermined maximumpower from the distribution power grid or the premises distributionnetwork via the power distribution node corresponding thereto, theapparatus comprising: a processor and a memory including instructionswhich, when executed by the processor, control: receiving, over acommunication network, (i) mobile energy storage and power consumptiondevice information indicating current energy storage level, currentenergy usage rate, current location and energy storage capacityrespectively for the mobile energy storage and power consumptiondevices, (ii) charging availability information indicating current andexpected charging operating status respectively for the chargingapparatuses, and (iii) power resource information indicatingavailability and pricing of electric power for supply to the microgridsor the single microgrid from the distribution power grid or the premisesdistribution network; determining, for at least one first mobile energystorage and power consumption device of the mobile energy storage andconsumption devices, based on the mobile energy storage and powerconsumption device information and information indicating predeterminedtiming for providing a predetermined minimum charge level at the atleast one first mobile energy storage and power consumption device, atleast one first power charging schedule for charging a battery of the atleast one first mobile energy storage and power consumption device, inaccordance with (i) the charging availability information, (ii)transactive energy information indicating pricing for supplying electricpower from a given power source including at least one of thedistribution power grid or an alternative power resource respectively tothe microgrids or the single microgrid, and (iii) the current locationof the at least one first mobile energy storage and power consumptiondevice, in which the transactive energy information is determined basedon the charging availability information and at least one of the powerresource information or alternative power resource informationindicating availability and pricing of electric power for supply to agiven microgrid from the alternative power resource; and transmitting,over the communication network, a charging instruction signal forcharging the battery of the at least one first mobile energy storage andpower consumption device using electric power supplied from the at leastone of the distribution power grid or the alternative power resource,according respectively to the at least one power charging schedule.